KNIGHT AND SHADOW
Prologue
The young woman looked out the window of the plane and saw Gotham coming into view. Pretty soon, she knew, they would be landing at Goodwin International Airport. From the sky, Gotham looked like it was just waking up from a night's slumber, the dawn slowly lighting the cityscape. Of course, from experience, she knew that Gotham never slept, much like any major capital.
The pre-landing announcements came over the plane's P.A. system. The young woman took the folder of documents resting on the tray in front of her and kept it in her traveling bag. She'd reserved two seats on the plane, effectively giving her space and privacy throughout her flight. That hadn't kept some of the men who were unaccompanied from approaching her, although that was understandable. The young woman was attractive, with Eurasian features and a slender frame. Her clothes did her appearance justice while maintaining a considerable degree of modesty. After all, she didn't believe in exposing too much of herself.
The plane banked slightly, giving her a better view of the city. She fancied that she could see all the traffic on the streets. It had been a long time since she set foot in Gotham. Her father took her there before she entered university. She remembered how awestruck she was at the tall buildings, the lights, the noise, and the swirl of activity all around her. Despite the fact that she spent her early years in different countries, there was a different feel to Gotham, an almost palpable vibration that seemed to resonate through the aircraft as it drew closer to the city.
It's a beautiful place, isn't it, my little one? she remembered her father asking her then.
Yes, father, it is, was her reply. And so large! It's almost like London…or Rome.
Her father smiled and nodded. You've made an excellent observation, my dear child. In many ways, Gotham City is like London and Rome—a center of culture and learning, of grand dreams and great deeds. Then her father's expression changed. They crossed the street, walked down a few blocks, and the young woman saw the other side of Gotham: the slums where the poor resided; the homeless huddled in dark alleys, surrounded by the refuse discarded by others but appropriated by the unfortunates who still considered them usable; criminals both petty and prominent preyed on the innocent.
But it is also fast becoming a pit of corruption and decadence, my dear, her father said. And the time will come when it will collapse under the weight of its own sins.
Isn't anyone here doing anything to stop it from happening, father? she asked, disturbed by such a possibility.
Her father didn't answer right away. As they passed by a clinic that was receiving some indigent patients, he told her: There are a few…but just a few. And in the end, what can few do against many? How can a few hold back the inevitable?
But you started with just a few followers yourself, father, she pointed out to him. You've been successful in reaching your goals despite that.
That is true…but we few have been willing to make sacrifices…great sacrifices, her father replied. I wonder if the few who seek to save Gotham are capable of doing the same.
As the young woman walked into Goodwin International Airport's lobby a couple of hours after disembarking from her flight, she spotted a newspaper in one of the airport's shops. It featured a story about Bruce Wayne inaugurating a new wing of Mercy Hospital, which she remembered having read as being one of the buildings that was destroyed in the chaos caused by a criminal known only as "The Joker".
She thought back to her father's question once more as she looked at the photograph. Bruce Wayne was dressed in a well-tailored suit and had a smile on his face as he stood in front of the new wing. From what she could see in the shop window, the wing was named after his mother, Martha Wayne.
The young woman smiled and said to herself: The few are few no longer, father. And they are willing to make sacrifices.
Talia Head stepped out of the airport into the light of a new day in Gotham City.